Marshall Astoria?

[TM1]

I don't see hardly any posts about this line.. I'm just wondering if folks like this amp or not? I have two and I really like them. You can get a real Vintage Sixties sound/Tone from them I think. I've had people try and buy mine from me.. not gonna happen..
Thanks!

 

[goldtop0]

Like the 1958X Don as regards lack of posts etc.
In my neck of the woods about the same number of Astorias as with the 73X and 58X units that came into the country maybe 6 or so overall(across the 3 models).
High priced and exclusive.

 

[corpse]

I never see them on reverb. Not exactly looking but when the notion hits i check. Nada.

 

[jrgtr42]

I liked the ideas of them, as well as the asthetics. I never saw one to play to just how it would work for me.
I heard good things about them, but I need to play and hear it for myself.

 

[ADP]

I owned a green one. A one-trick pony that sounded good but didn't do it for me in the end. It was anemic less everything was dimed.

But in all fairness, my arsenal of amps is mostly custom built for me.

 

[J.D.]

Interesting looking 30W/5W amp (appears to have KT66 power valves). Never played one myself and really never looked at the specs before today.

https://marshall.com/marshall-amps/products/archive/astoria

 

[ADP]

Interesting looking 30W/5W amp (appears to have KT66 power valves). Never played one myself and really never looked at the specs before today.

https://marshall.com/marshall-amps/products/archive/astoria

It is cathode biased and can run EL34s, which I preferred, or KT66. I enjoyed the tones through a 4x12 1960A cab and also with 2x12 Alnico Blues. It was fun and had some usable tones. It also held its value as it is highly sought after, that was a plus!

It's a great amp, but as far as cathode bias goes, the Victoria Regal II blows it clear away if you pop two EL34 or KT66 in one. You want 5w? Pop a single 6V6. It is superior in every category.

 

[Torshalla]

Amazing amps… terrible marketting / cosmetics / pricing / launch… amazing product but monumental commercial failure. That really is too bad cause these amps actually sound great…

 

[CK6]

I don't see hardly any posts about this line.. I'm just wondering if folks like this amp or not? I have two and I really like them. You can get a real Vintage Sixties sound/Tone from them I think. I've had people try and buy mine from me.. not gonna happen..
Thanks!

I think it’s an amazing amp! But impossible to find secondhand - would love a combo!

 

[J.D.]

Would be interested to hear a comparison between this and the amps of the Studio line.

https://marshall.com/marshall-amps/products/amps/studio

 

[Torshalla]

I think it’s an amazing amp! But impossible to find secondhand - would love a combo!

These are for sale in Germany now…

 

[CK6]

These are for sale in Germany now…View attachment 16898

I live in Canada & I believe that these are not convertible voltages like other Marshalls… At least one of them that I looked at.

 

[Torshalla]

I live in Canada & I believe that these are not convertible voltages like other Marshalls… At least one of them that I looked at.

To be honest I am not sure…

 

[Mr. Big]

I believe Chicago Music Exchange did a small run of these a few years back (black and gold). Greta Van Fleet used in their early days.

 

[goldtop0]

Those German prices are very reasonable.

 

[Torshalla]

They don t sell well in Europe… the launch was so terrible that not many people actually got to try them / listen to them… so demand is not high despite them being amazing amps

 

[Keefoman]

Bernie Marsden with a couple of re-issues and The Beast through an Astoria:

 

[goldtop0]

They don t sell well in Europe… the launch was so terrible that not many people actually got to try them / listen to them… so demand is not high despite them being amazing amps

Here in NZ you double the euro asking price and add maybe another NZ$100-200 to get the cost into the country. New they are/were around $5-6k.

 

[Gridlock]

I know, an old post. I was searching some info on my amp and saw this old thread.

I’ve owned all three Astoria combo models and thought I would add my review for those interested.

My first Astoria was the Custom and I used that with a band for a few years. To my ears, it sounded best with the Master dime’d, using the gain knob for volume control, and running my Greer Lightspeed in front. It sounded great. I never used the boost, it was just too much gain for me.

I also owned the Dual, it was a good sounding amp, but it only had low-medium gain. It still needed an OD pedal for even Zeppelin or ZZ Top type gain. The Dual also had good cleans, but I also had vintage Fender amps with good cleans, and I didn’t need a two channel amp.

I kept the Classic over the other two models because it was the most old school Marshall. In addition, it seemed to have the most bottom-end and fullness at the volumes that I normally play. Since I’m now primarily an at home player, I use pedals for gain. The Classic takes pedals well.

A couple of years ago, I had Peter Mather build me a custom made Bluesbreaker cab for my Astoria Classic. A perfect fit and a quality build. The cab is loaded with two ‘70s Celestion Blackback speakers. Definitely now sounds more like it looks, a hand-wired Bluesbreaker with controllable volume.

Now it’s the Astoria model that Marshall should have made. My keeper Marshall and yes, I still have the original Green Astoria cab and Creamback speaker.

 

[TM1]

On mine, I installed all Iskra/Phillips mustard caps, lowered the values of the filters and put all NOS glass(valves) into them. It made a nice difference!